LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — An animal over-population problem is straining rescues and overwhelming valley shelters.
13 Investigates is looking at how one group is targeting what many believe is the primary source of that over-population, something that could be just beyond your backyard.
Dave Schweiger started advocating for animals eight years ago.
"There's just tons and tons of ads," says Schweiger. "Here's one, two hours ago: American bulldog puppies."
His latest mission: Busting illegal dog breeders in the Las Vegas valley.
Schweiger and a handful of volunteers call themselves the Illegal Breeder Busters. The group finds un-permitted breeders operating every day in plain sight, selling puppies of all breeds online.
"Husky, Goldendoodle, Great Dane, Maltese, Chihuahua, Yorkie-Poo, more Frenchies," Schweiger reads off the breeds available in ads, most of which are posted on Craigslist and Facebook groups.
"A lot of the breeders. it's just about the money," he says.
And puppies often fetch a hefty price.
"So you see here?" says Schweiger, pointing to online postings. "$10,00, $7,000, $4,000, $2,500, $800."
Those big bucks create a big problem.
"It is out of hand," says Las Vegas Councilwoman Victoria Seaman.
PART 2: Stopping the problem at the source and the case of the $10,000 puppies
She agrees with the majority of animal welfare advocates who say illegal breeders are the biggest contributor to our animal over-population problem.
"The primary source is the backyard illegal breeding that we don't have the manpower to control," Seaman said.
Seaman says when puppies in a litter aren't sold, they're often dumped.
"And when you talk to the shelters like the Nevada SPCA," Seaman explains, "they know very well when people are over-breeding and they drop off a litter of French bulldogs, for example, that are blind because they know they've been overbred, interbred, and now they just drop them off and and they don't want them."
That kind of cruelty inspired Schweiger to become a breeder buster. He and his volunteers respond to the ads, gathering information via text, instant messaging and phone calls, to create a package of evidence for animal control agencies.
"They want the address, breed, cost," Schweiger said.
The group checks to make sure it's not a permitted breeder and continue communicating, saving screen shots until they have enough for authorities to act.
DARCY SPEARS: "Why isn't Animal Control doing what you're doing?"
SCHWEIGER: "That's a great question. They're reactive to the problem. They're not proactive."
No one from the City of Las Vegas would go on camera for this report. In an email, a spokesperson said the city is proactive, investigates all animal-related complaints, and " ...if the team becomes aware of an animal-related law being broken by a means other than a complaint it will also be investigated."
One of Schweiger's complaints led to a case against Judy Mendoza, who was selling sheep-a-doodles on Craigslist. In social media posts, Mendoza asks for $900 to $1,500 per puppy.
Armed with Schweiger's evidence, Animal Control officers went to Mendoza's home on Oct. 31, and she had a litter of excuses. First, she claimed a friend left her with the puppies. When officers produced her social media screenshots, she claimed the account had been hacked.
So, they showed her the text messages between her and potential buyers. To that, she claimed her friend was using her phone.
Officers told Mendoza she could either surrender the puppies or accept a citation. She chose the latter. But city records show because she didn't have identification, the citation was written to her husband, Daniel Meneses. We spoke to him by phone, and he claims they didn't know it was against the law to breed or sell puppies.
He says after Animal Control got involved, they gave the puppies away to family and friends.
Municipal court records show Meneses was cited for doing business without a license. He pleaded not guilty in early February. The next court date is March 7.
Schweiger also discovered something he finds particularly concerning. During the COVID-19 crisis, The Animal Foundation set the legal requirement aside and did not do spay and neuter surgeries, which they considered non-essential.
"Over 2,000 animals went out and not fixed," Schweiger said. "And what we've seen is we're running into illegal breeders who are breeding dogs that didn't get fixed at The Animal Foundation."
Last September, Alexandra Cruz-Lemus and her husband, Sergio, advertised two jack-a-poo chihuahua pups for $300 each on Craigslist. Schweiger collected the evidence. Animal control records show Sergio Cruz told officers they got the 12-year-old chihuahua who fathered the litter "...from The Animal Foundation, which advised he could not be neutered due to age."
The couple wouldn't go on camera and told us by phone that the litter was accidental. But the Breeder Busters found social media posts by Cruz from June 2020 where she talked about selling puppies from a previous litter.
Animal Control issued a 30-day compliance notice for spay/neuter/rabies and pet licensing.
PART 2: Stopping the problem at the source and the case of the $10,000 puppies
Schweiger wonders why Animal Control doesn't throw the book at the breeders. City laws show officers could have issued at least half a dozen violations in the cases built on Schweiger's complaints. He says he's not seeing citations for things like breeding a female dog too often, selling puppies too young, or general animal care conditions.
The city stated in an email, "Every case is different with its own set of facts, and investigators may cite for one or more violations as appropriate for the case."
Councilwoman Seaman says the current law is not enough.
"It doesn't address illegal breeders the way we need to," Seaman said.
She's working on something stronger.
"We give that person the benefit of the doubt the first time and say just come into compliance. You pay a mandatory fine. And when they do it the second and third, fourth time, then they're facing mandatory jail time," Seaman said.
Many people selling puppies online use the term "re-homing fee" instead of sale price. But it's all the same thing in the eyes of the law. Seaman says if someone truly needs to re-home a dog, there shouldn't be any fee at all.
